The Washington critic., 1887-02-12

Ntllu, SIT. 1 Ou le NOT lOtNeu bNl VI
your own house At midnight. Let me
shake hands with you, sir" Aud the
stranger rave PENS hand n squeeze
that brought the tears into his eyes and
distorted his body into impossible
curves.
Nov, then, Mr.-llr.--, would II
suit you to 60 to sleep? You sec the
fire begins 10 burn up and"
"Oh, certainly, certainly ~ And the
stranger divested himself Of his bo us
and made for the bed
Hello Here, that won't do. cant
let any one sleep with me-"
why, what The deuce do you mean,
then, by asking me to go 10 sleep
1Ou won't let me go to bel, and
you won't let me sit down in your
chnirY'
"Well, didn't you come in here TO
watch your house--not to slcepY'
"Ah Yes. by the by, sir, it's an
infamous plot. That woman has or.
dered the servant not to hear me.
"What woman"
why, my wife, sir. I'm married
The deuce you are Well, what
them
"Ycs, sir And that perldlous
woman dwells in that house T. And
the stranger rushed TO the window,
threw 1t up with crash, anl pointed
across the way.
"Ah for heavens sake, shut the
window. III catch my death o
cold ~
"Well, well There anything for
peace. Sir, let me tell you my story.
\ sad tale, sir; lm jealous man !"
God bless me How unfortunate. "
"GCs; and | have cause, sir |
won my wife by n Iuse, sir ! And, In
winning, ! became CUnyinCed of her
instability in love, and I've never had
confidence since"
You're right, sir--right |
wouldn't give twopence for the
plightcd faith OF any woman, In mat
lers of love. I've had bitter expert
encc myself p And Penn heaved u
heavy sigh.
Never spoke truer word in your
life, sir I've been three years
married, sir %
Have you? What dreadful
And for three years, sir, was pay.
ing attention 10 my wife-attenlion
sir, that could not be misunderstood,
when all at once heard she was en-,
gagcd TO another. Yes, sir--to an.
other ! D the fellow l forgot
his name, just now."
"Well, sir Go on; you're quite In.
teresting."
"Why, sir; what did ! do? Instead
Of going TO work, deliberately, and
skinning the fellow alive, as | should
have done, backed out, and left the
field to him"
"Ah Very wrong-very wrong !"
But, sir, soon came to my senses.
and one day, hearing that the fellow
had left town for q week, | rushed to
her house, offered my hand and heart
and was accepted"
What wretch.
You may well say 1t, sir Wretch,
indeed, she was"
"l'vc had quite as unfortunate cN.
perience of the instability of woman
Once, l was engaged and left my
atllapced only for week, when a
wretch, whose name will not mention
an old lover, it seems-came along,
and when j returned 1t was TO sec a
sight and receive treatment that embt.
tered me against the sex forever"
God bless me, sir; condole with
youl What did they do!"
why, sir, they treated me MS you
were treated tonight. They let me
stand in the cold, pulling al an un.
answered bell, and when looked up
at the window" Penn cast his
eyes ont of his window at the house
opposite "thcy-Good heavens, how
strange! That's just what l saw.
wv hat whdtg'
"Why, their shadows on the window.
My ailanccd and her newly accepted!'
And Piichlcy pointed to the shadows
of two persons ON the curtains of the
opposite house, standing closely to.
gel her,
That's my wife !" shouted the
stapgcr. by Heavens knew it was
true. They told me that her old lover
had been seen In this street several
times during my absence. That's
what brought me home, sir-that 5
what makes ne want to watch that
house I'll kill him, sir-lll kill
him r.
Control yourself, my dear sir Per.
haps it's all n mistake -
IAN mistake? Do you think |
don't know my own wife, sir? And
what right has any man to be in her
bedroom at this time of night? And
she, too, has always declared solcmnly
TO me that she didn't care pin for
that fellow, and was only going to
marry him because | diln't propose,
and she didn't want TO die an old maid.
by George, I'll kill 'em both - And
the stranger threw up the window, and
leaned out, shouting: "Fienls !
Wretches III be there in moment! -
For heavens sake, my dear fellow,
don't. You'll alarm the whole street. "
"D-n the street" And the stranger
made an emphatic dash for the first
thing that met his hand, which hap
pened TO be china vase on the mantel,
and dashed 1t fcrcely across the street,
and through the window of the shadow
with n yelling of; There, take that !"
Dear me How do you know but
you've made a mistake in the room?'
Made mistake in the room!
Don't know my own room? Don't |
know my own wife? Don't know
that Internal shadow beside her-that
shadow of Pitchley!"
"Pitchley E?
"Yes, Pilchley -" And the stranger
leaned further out, and screamed the
name across the street, "'itchley
For heaven sake, my dear fellow,
will you wait moment? Don't you
see the people opposite arc looking NJ
you in astonishment? What's your
nOme?"
"Alinkins, I'll astonish en- What's s
yours "
"Pitchley."
"Pitchley =" Just at that moment
there came voice from below, which
said; "ilezekiah, Is that your voice y
Yes, my dear, said the heroic Min.
kins NC Lnill No. a lnnlh ..AAhM ruh nj